Virginia Tech—The healing

Today is the first day of my week long thoughts about a place that holds a special place in my heart-Virginia Tech. Last year an incredibly sick young man wounded the soul of that place, of the people that hold it dear. I wanted to share a video with you that shows the spirit of the place and the healing that is happening there.

I remember the day it happened. Remember, I was on the road and TDY to F.E. Warren AFB (imagine that, me TDY) w/ Rich “B” Esser and staying in lodging. We didn’t get the whole story until after evening chow. I stayed glued to FoxNews all night and was so pissed off that I couldn’t focus on the conference…nobody could and the massacre was talked about as much as nuke changes. Sadly, what made me the maddest was that SOB offing himself…coward. On a positive note, I use the Jewish professor as one of my many role models…survived the Nazis, built a life for him and did his utmost to protect his students. Just wish I could have learned of this man, his character and love of fellow man in a different way. Love you WM—HM

(For those who do not know me, I am nurse at one of the hospitals that received a few of the wounded)

I was at a conference in Roanoke for work that day…my boss was sitting beside me w/ her blackberry…her secretary emailed her and said that there had been a shooting at VT…that was when the word first got out and we really didn’t know what a huge casualty there was…we finally had a break and everyone gathered in the hotel lobby to watch the breaking news…I remember one attendee breaking down and crying because her son or daughter was a student there…my Lord, the fear that must have been gripping her heart…not sure if her child was injured or not…by lunch time they had called a disaster at our hospital (so we could prepare for a mass influx of patients)…we were in so much shock that we couldn’t stay at the conference and felt like we needed to be back at the hospital so we could support our staff. I remember driving down I-81 and there is a point between Ironto & Christiansburg where you can look over and see the valley where VT sits and I remember thinking, it must be hell on earth over there (I know that we have soldiers in Iraq who are living through this crap every day…but on our soil???? 30 minutes from home??? Here???) and I remember praying that God would be with them and the families who were scared…

So – I arrived at the hospital and we ended up with 2 of the wounded on our unit. They were the kindest people…

The most memorable moment from this entire experience came within the next couple of days when we had a type of memorial service at the hospital…it was outside and practically right below one of the victim’s rooms (coincidental)…after the service was over and a candle was lit for each person…I hear the chant start “Let’s Go!” – and the man who started it was the father of this particular victim (he had been standing in the back of the crowd the entire time). It sent chills through my body – this man, who has every right to be experiencing all of these emotions (anger b/c this happened to his son) – was showing the true colors of the Hokie spirit…I’m having trouble putting this all into words b/c it’s just one of those things where you have to be there to get that feeling…so he started the “Let’s Go – Hokies!” chant that went on for a few minutes. What an experience.

I hope you got the e-mail I sent from one of my previous co-workers at VT. Yes what a nightmare that must have been. I was happy that I had retired but after working there all those years, one cannot imagine how it must have been that day for everyone involved. I dread when the 16th arrives again. What a day we have had here today. Nothing bad just busy. Take care of the little monsters. Love Ya!

The 16th is going to be a very emotional day. But since you all are there you should do something Hokie!!!

WE ARE IN 5TH PLACE AT NATIONALS GOING INTO FINALS TOMORROW. THE GIRL WHO WAS KILLED IN AMBLER JOHNSTON DORM, HER ROOMMATE IS ON OUR SQUAD RIGHT NOW. I HOPE WE DO WELL TO HELP EVERYONE HERE (IN DAYTONA) GET THROUGH THIS COMING WEEK.

A day that I will never forget. At the office where I work calls started coming in people wanted to know what was going on. The TV was on and the news started with all the info they had. We also had the scanner on but it was only picking up bits of the radio traffic. That is worse that hearing it all.
In this line of work we know things like this happen but we never think it is going to happen around here. Wishfull thinking I guess. The emotions that I saw in the faces of my co-workers. It is a day that we all band together keep our heads held high,but on the inside our hearts were breaking for the family ,friends and everyone at VT.
Then they called for our investigators to go to Va Tech. I don’t know how the deal with things of this nature. But it seems to make them stronger.

The only person that I could think of was India and just prayed that she was okay.

The healing has started for all Va Tech Hokies. It is a day that will never be forgotten.

I can’t begin to imagine the emotions of people who field tragedies like this